FTC
By Suzanne Choney
Despite a huge number of mobile apps created for children, the Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday that there's "very little information" by many app developers when it comes to letting parents know about the personal data that's being collected about their children or information that's being shared. The agency said it plans an "additional review" in the next six months to see whether "some mobile apps" are violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule.
In a report, "Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing," the FTC said that app stores, app developers "and third parties providing services" need to play "an active role in providing key information to parents" that they aren't now.
App developers "should provide data practices information in simple and short disclosures," the FTC said. "They also should disclose whether the app connects with social media, and whether it contains ads. Third parties that collect data also should disclose their privacy practices."
Mobile apps "can capture a broad range of user information from a mobile device automatically, including the user's precise geolocation, phone number, list of contacts, call logs, unique identifiers and other information stored on the device," the FTC said.
App stores, too should "take responsibility for ensuring that parents have basic information." The two largest, Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market, were studied by the FTC.
"As gatekeepers of the app marketplace, the app stores should do more," the agency said in the report:
The market for mobile applications has experienced explosive growth over the past three and a half years. When Apple?s iTunes App Store and Google?s Android Market first launched in 2008, smartphone users could choose from about 600 apps. Today, there are more than 500,000 apps in the Apple App Store and 380,000 apps in the Android Market, which consumers can access from a variety of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. Consumers have downloaded these apps more than 28 billion times, and young children and teens are increasingly embracing smartphone technology for entertainment and educational purposes.
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A newly released Nielsen study corroborates the last part of the statement: In homes with tablets, a vast majority of children are using them.?
We've contacted Apple and Google for comment, and will update this post when we hear back.
FTC
The FTC's study shows a huge number of mobile apps aimed at children, both in Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market.
The FTC's report coincides with the discovery in recent days about a flaw in Apple's iOS that lets apps access a user's address book contacts and store that data.?
Apple issued a statement Wednesday saying "any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release." But Reps. Henry Waxman (D-California) and G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina) sent a letter Tuesday to Apple, seeking answers on the issue.
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) was passed by Congress in 1998?? long before mobile apps and "practically the Paleozoic era of the Internet," as msnbc.com's Helen A.S. Popkin has noted. The law requires commercial websites to obtain parental permission before collecting the personal info of any user under the age of 13.
"Companies that operate in the mobile marketplace provide great benefits, but they must step up to the plate and provide easily accessible, basic information, so that parents can make informed decisions about the apps their kids use," said FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz in a press release. "Right now, it is almost impossible to figure out which apps collect data and what they do with it. The kids app ecosystem needs to wake up, and we want to work collaboratively with industry to help ensure parents have the information they need."
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